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Official Israeli media and a minister confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday in the city of Neom, Saudi Arabia, but Netanyahu refrained from denying. or confirm the news, after the denial of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Elias Karam from occupied Jerusalem said Netanyahu refrained from commenting on the matter, about an hour after announcing a major political speech that he intends to deliver at a meeting of his blocs. party in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament).
Netanyahu only said that he was seeking “to expand the circle of peace in the region.”
This came after Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud denied reporting on that meeting, which was said to have been held with the participation of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was visiting the region.
Saudi exile
“I have seen press reports about an alleged meeting between the crown prince and Israeli officials during Secretary Pompeo’s recent visit,” the Saudi minister said on Twitter. “No such meeting was held. Those present were only US and Saudi officials.”
On the Israeli side, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attacked the source of the news leak, which was understood as an allusion to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Al-Jazeera correspondent said.
Gantz said the leak was “an irresponsible act and should be of concern to the Israelis.”
I have seen press reports about an alleged meeting between HRH the Crown Prince and Israeli officials during the recent visit of @SecPompeo. There was no such meeting. The only officials present were Americans and Saudis.
– Faisal bin Farhan (@FaisalbinFarhan) November 23, 2020
Confirm military censorship
Unusually, the Israeli military censor had confirmed to Israeli state radio the news that Netanyahu and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen traveled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday aboard a private plane.
For his part, Israeli Education Minister Yoav Galant confirmed that Netanyahu met with the Saudi crown prince and the US secretary of state, in the presence of the head of the Mossad service, during a secret visit to Saudi Arabia.
“The fact that the meeting took place and that it has been discussed publicly, even if it is semi-official, is very important,” Galant said in a statement to Israeli army radio.
The director of Al-Jazeera’s office in Palestine, Walid al-Omari, indicated that the permission of the Israeli censorship to publish the news confirms its authenticity, and that the same plane was used repeatedly by Netanyahu in secret and open missions, and He added that Israeli radio reported the news of a senior government official who did not mention his name. Netanyahu himself.
He said that the Israeli media released the details of what happened, and that it was also revealed that Netanyahu and Cohen’s trip to Saudi Arabia and their meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was the real reason behind the postponement of the emergency meeting of the Emergency Ministerial Committee on the Corona pandemic, despite the excuses that were announced as a reason for the delay.
He added that this meeting was preceded by a statement from Netanyahu during Ben-Gurion’s memorial on the anniversary of his death, in which he said that the Arab countries have radically changed their positions, and are now supporting the establishment of relations with Israel, and that the normalization train continues.
He noted that yesterday’s meeting appears not to be the first between the two (Netanyahu and Muhammad bin Salman), either in Saudi Arabia or outside of it.
Absolutely rare direct Israeli flight to the new Saudi megacity Neom on the Red Sea coast
It was Bibi’s ex-favorite bizjet t7-cpx. Return to Tel Aviv after 5 hours ashore pic.twitter.com/Ty9aedYbsK
– spicy avi (@avischarf) November 23, 2020
American and Israeli reports
For its part, the American Wall Street Journal quoted two Saudi advisers as saying that the meeting between Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman lasted two hours and discussed normalization and Iran.
The Yediot Aharonot newspaper’s website revealed this morning that an Israeli plane – previously used by Netanyahu on foreign missions in the past – took off yesterday from Ben Gurion Airport (east of Tel Aviv) to the airport in the Saudi coastal city of Neom. , where he stayed at the airport for 5 hours, before taking off. Back to Israel.
According to the newspaper’s website, the plane arrived there during a meeting between Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan with his guest, the US Secretary of State, who was on his way back to his country.
The site mentioned in its report that US President Donald Trump was the most praiseworthy eulogy for Saudi Arabia after the conclusion of the peace accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, and said that would join the normalization train with Israel, but reports confirm that King Salman still opposes this.
The Walla news site also reported that the Israeli prime minister secretly visited Saudi Arabia, accompanied by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, and met there with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman.
According to the news, reported by the journalist specializing in investigative reports, Barak Rafid, Netanyahu and Cohen took off for Saudi Arabia in a private plane owned by businessman Audi Angel at 5 p.m. yesterday, while the plane remained for 5 hours in the coastal city. of Neom in the Red Sea.
In context, Yitzhak Levanon, a former Israeli ambassador and expert on Middle East affairs, said that meetings between Saudi and Israeli officials have been dragging on for a long time.
During an intervention with Al-Jazeera, Levanon added that Netanyahu’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not surprising, given the relationships and contacts between Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and various Saudi officials.
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